[...] one comment I just read a post over at the Web-Strategist titled, “Five Ways Luxury Brands Can Overcome the Conundrum of Social Marketing.”  I found it [...]

[...] The pressure to show immediate ROI is stifling innovative use of social media. Many companies are defaulting to some dangerous combination of a Facebook page, Twitter account or You Tube without thinking through the implications on their brand and customer experience. One marketer I spoke with works on a luxury brand and is struggling with how their exclusivity could be balanced (or compromised) with the open nature of social media – did they want to go invitation-only like Mercedes-Benz? Or create a fan page on Facebook a la Versace? How should they even start to make that evaluation? (for a great post on luxury brands and social marketing see here). [...]

[...] Digital 360’s Rohit Barhgava and Forrester Research Analyst Jeremiah Owang recently compiled better practice recommendations for luxury brands venturing into the social media [...]

[...] to listen and participate in conversations.  Jeremiah Owyang offers more tips in his blog post “Five Ways Luxury Brands Can Overcome the Conundrum of Social Marketing.” Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Social Media Affects Following FashionNew [...]

[...] To read the full article, click here [...]

I look forward learning more about this –let’s setup a time to talk.

- Both had equivalent breadth in terms of total number of locations that talk about their Brand
- Gucci is Twitter-centric whereas LV is blog-centric
- Despite the greater volume, LV is more strongly associated to product discussion
- LV more strongly associated with other luxury brands
- Gucci may have more volume, but I think LV has a stronger brand
presence
- Both brands will find ads/spam out there at a pretty high rate due to “discount” and “wholesale” sellers

Good post and ongoing discussion on this.

Best,

@bcahill
SVP of Marketing
@visible_tech

[...] Sometime back, Mashable had an interesting post on luxury brands and social media. While a few points were raised on the challenges, the one that interested me most was how the facet of  ‘exclusivity’ could be balanced with the relatively open nature of social media, especially Facebook and Twitter. The post also highlights a couple of examples – the aspiration based FB fanpage of Gucci and the invite-only closed social network of Mercedes Benz – GenerationBenz.com. The examples were interesting because they were two different approaches – of how luxury brands can use social media. On a related note, Jeremiah Owyang wrote a post a few days back – 5 ways luxury brands can overcome the conundrum of social marketing. [...]

Interesting concept and thoughts. We have been working with several clients in the luxury good space for several years and we have noticed two key behaviours:
1. Luxury brands tend to have a very loyal following, so the brands are using this in promotion of new products and offerings, which they can do without offending their existing and potential follower base.
2. Surprisingly we have seen a surge in the collaborative efforts of several luxury brands working together to promote the luxury industry as a whole. We suspect this is due to the economic climate and previously would not have been considered at all.

Again thanks for an insightful post.
H
@be_social

My point to them is that I wear certain labels – my button-down shirts and my sunglasses – and wear certain scents that most people wouldn’t pay for because of the price. It’s because I want to be distinct, and not be one of the crowd.

So, where is that balance? Yes, listening is good (and I know my scent company listens online). How much do you really engage beyond response, though?

Thanks Jeremiah,
very interesting as always.
Slightly off topic, what do you think about the adoption of social in the financial services space?
What do you think is their biggest challenge? I did see your post related to the FS industry back in June last year, but wondering if you or your readers have any more recent thoughts/ideas/suggestions? Especially in the broking/stockbroking space.

Consumers participate in social media and approach social technologies very differently and the brands should follow suit. While each brand faces its own challenges, no single approach will be enough to truly engage all of their customers.

Since genuine interaction with consumers is so important and social media is simply one of the latest vehicles being used to make that connection, finding what truly works for a brand is key.

Thank you for posting a thought-provoking article on this topic.

[...] Jeremiah Owyang – Five Ways Luxury Brands Can Overcome the Conundrum of Social Marketing [...]

Every brand has its own opportunities and obstacles, but thanks a ton for shining some light on this particular niche.

As many of you have already noted, the value of a luxury (and premium) brand is exclusivity. Take into account audience, etc., and you have a very different experience and objectives from what we’ve seen so far.

Getting tactical, I think one of the things we’ll see here are deep integration with other experiences, in particular ‘events’ in the real world. How can social media be used to extend or complement those experiences?

Example…Tom Ford launches his Spring collection. Same old run way stuff, exclusive parties, nice paper invitations, etc. Leading up to or following that a small group of ‘exclusive’ customers chat with him online, email with him, share photos of themselves and have him design for them, etc. Talk about the next collection and his most frequent buyers get invited to lifestyle type events.

[...] Posted by Lauren Proctor on September 4, 2009 Although we’ve seen heavy adoption of social in the tech and consumer goods space, the impacts are far reaching.  One industry that’s often overlooked –but could have the most impact is the luxury industry. (Web Strategist) [...]